Spooky Secrets Leap Off The Page In Clayton

CLAYTON, N.C. – A dancing skeleton looking for a challenge and a mysterious voice in the attic are just a taste of the surprises waiting inside a new book written by some of Clayton’s youngest authors. 

Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library is celebrating the winners of its 2026 Spooky Story Contest, which invited students in grades three through eight to explore the theme “Small Town Secrets.” From familiar neighborhoods to places hiding something unusual, the young writers found plenty of ways to turn everyday settings into spooky adventures. 

Their work took center stage during the library’s All Hallows Read celebration on Thursday, October 29. Staff used playful voices and dramatic readings to share the winning entries with a room full of families and friends. 

The excitement was easy to see. Parents held up their phones to record the readings, smiling and clapping as their children’s words filled the room. The young authors got to watch the audience react to characters and surprises they had dreamed up themselves. 

“Sometimes, all it takes is someone believing in your story to make you want to write another one,” said Youth Services Supervisor Grace Davis. “We hope these young authors walk away feeling proud of what they’ve created and excited to keep writing. Maybe one day, we’ll see one of their books on our shelves again.” 

This year’s winning authors include: 

• Skyler Burke, age 9 

• Parker-Lee Daino, age 9 

• Grace Gordon, age 9 

• Joshlin Jerome, age 9 

• Madeline Striegel, age 9 

• Shannon Perales, age 10 

• Scarlett Rupert, age 10 

• Allegra Brielle Burke, age 11 

• Caroline Gordon, age 11 

• Lilly Prajapati, age 11 

• Collins Pieper, age 12 

• Kate Lindemann, age 13 

Each student took the theme in a different direction, giving readers everything from silly surprises to some genuinely creepy moments. 

Nine-year-old Skyler Burke brings plenty of laughs with The Day It Got Spooky. What begins as an ordinary visit to a neighboring house takes a strange turn when the main character discovers a dancing skeleton. But this skeleton isn’t interested in an ordinary dance-off. The stakes are much higher! 

“But he battled me to a dance fight… For my skin!!!” 

The main character accepts the challenge, facing off against the skeleton in jazz, ballet, and tap. Even after winning two out of three rounds, escaping the house turns out to be another challenge entirely. 

In The Terror of Three, nine-year-old Grace Gordon takes readers inside a library where storytime gets a little out of hand. After a young girl dressed as a witch casts a spell on a Halloween book, its characters suddenly appear in real life. Now, librarian Mrs. Grace must help a vampire, a pumpkin, and a ghost get back into their story before midnight, or they’ll be stuck in the real world forever. 

With the characters safely back where they belong, it seems the mystery is solved. But Mrs. Grace has one last surprise for readers.  

“Mrs. Grace smiled, ‘I have a few secrets of my own.'” 

11-year-old Caroline Gordon, Grace’s sister, takes a darker turn in The Voice in the Attic. Her main character moves into an old house with a frightening aunt and begins hearing strange noises in her room. 

As the mystery unfolds, the young character discovers a ghost named Amanda and a troubling secret about the house. Caroline even gives her tale a local connection, revealing that the home eventually becomes Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library. 

Her final warning might make visitors think twice the next time they browse the shelves. 

“She might be watching you right now!” 

For readers who enjoy a darker tale, 12-year-old Collins Pieper delivers one in The Spirit Court. Emma, the main character, visits a graveyard and discovers a hidden staircase beneath a tomb. 

What waits below is no ordinary room. Emma summonses a gathering of spirits, turning the space into a ghostly courtroom where she has some unfinished family business to settle. 

“Awaken and arise spirits of departed souls” 

The tale takes readers into a world where even the dead may have to answer for their actions. 

These are just a few of the adventures waiting inside the bound collection of winning entries, which is now part of the library’s Local Authors Collection. The book includes original illustrations from some of the students and is available for checkout with a library card. 

Library staff made only minor edits for spelling or clarity, keeping each writer’s voice and creative choices intact. For the students, that means they can now walk into their hometown library, find their own work on the shelf, and share it with readers they may never meet. 

Perhaps the next great mystery is already taking shape in the mind of another young Clayton writer. After all, you never know what secrets might be hiding right around the corner.